Introduction to Nonfiction

What is nonfiction? Nonfiction is a form of literature based primarily on facts. It is prose writing that presents and explains ideas or tells about real people, places, objects, or events.

Entertain Inform Reflect Describe Persuade The five main purposes of nonfiction writing are: Entertain Inform Reflect Describe Persuade

Essays Speeches Articles There are three main types of nonfiction writing: Essays Speeches Articles

There are five major types of essays: I. Essays There are five major types of essays:

I. Essays (continued) 1. Narrative essays: written as a story. Biographies – a life story written by another person. Autobiographies – the writer’s account of his or her own life. Memoirs and Journals – contain personal thoughts and reflections. Travel Literature – records journeys in the world, which are often journeys taken alone. Letters – written texts addressed to a particular person or organization. Blogs – journals posted and frequently updated for an online audience.

I. Essays (continued) 2. Expository essays: writing that explains or informs. It presents facts and ideas, or explains a process. Essays, speeches, and textbooks are all examples of expository writing. 3. Persuasive essays: writing that is intended to convince the reader to adopt the author’s claim or position on an issue, or to motivate the reader to take action. Newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, speeches, essays, and advertisements are all forms of persuasive writing.

I. Essays (continued) 4. Descriptive essays: give vivid details about a person, place, or thing. Descriptive writing uses images that appeal to the five senses to help the reader picture what is being described. 5. Reflective essays: writing that explores the meaning of an experience or offers the author’s thoughts or feelings.

II. Speeches There are three main types of speeches including an occasion and audience for each.

II. Speeches (continued) 1. Speech of Public Advocacy: is a formal, prepared speech intended to persuade an audience to take action. Example: an argumentative speech that describes a problem in the community and proposes a possible solution. Delivered by: a citizen (a person from the community) Occasion: a city council meeting Audience: the city council, and other citizens (members of the community)

II. Speeches (continued) 2. Talk: an informal speech presented in a conversational style. Example: a report on a science fair Delivered by: a student Occasion: a science club meeting Audience: members (students) of the science club

II. Speeches (continued) 3. Impromptu speech: a speech presented with little or no preparation, often in a conversational style. Example: a speech of celebration Delivered by: one of the couple’s friends Occasion: a wedding Audience: the couple getting married, along with their guests (friends and family)

III. Articles There are two main types of articles. 1. News articles: provide facts about current events. These articles usually answer the questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? and are written from an objective, unbiased or neutral point of view.

III. Articles (continued) 2. Feature articles: provide facts about topics of current interest such as fashion trends, race relations or developments in science. These articles are often written in a friendly, conversational style.

Other Elements of Nonfiction Organization – the way a writer chooses to arrange and present information in a single piece of writing. 1. Chronological – presents information in time order, from first to last or last to first. 2. Compare-and-Contrast – shows the ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different. 3. Cause-and-Effect – shows the relationship among events. 4. Problem-and-Solution – identifies a problem and then offers a solution.

Other Elements of Nonfiction (continued) Tone – the writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject. 1. Formal – uses formal language, no slang. Everything is grammatically correct. 2. Informal – written as though you were writing or speaking to a friend. Voice – the writer’s way of “speaking” in his or her writing.

Other Elements of Nonfiction (continued) Objective vs. Subjective Writing: 1. Objective writing – evidence that one can see and evaluate for his or her self. Objective writing emphasizes facts, figures and imagery. There are no personal opinions or beliefs in objective writing. Journalists who stick to the facts and figures write objectively. Objective writing is also found in textbooks.

Other Elements of Nonfiction (continued) Objective vs. Subjective Writing (continued): 2. Subjective writing – evidence that one cannot evaluate; one simply has to accept or reject the author’s claims. Subjective writing emphasizes personal feelings, thoughts, judgments and opinions. Subjective writing is found in personal essays, autobiographies and newspaper editorials where journalists express their own opinions about news events.

WARNING!!! Some texts may combine objective writing and subjective writing. For example, a biographer may include his or her opinion of the person about whom he or she is writing, as well as report the facts regarding that person’s life. It is important to recognize which segments are written objectively and which are written subjectively.

WARNING!!! Likewise, an inexperienced or unprofessional journalist may inadvertently or on purpose mix actual facts related to a news event with his or her own opinions of that occurrence. Again, it is the reader’s responsibility to distinguish fact from opinion.

Examples Subjective: Andy says “My foot hurts a lot.” Is he lying? How much is “a lot”? What is Andy’s idea of pain? Is he actually injured or is his foot just asleep? Objective: Andy walks in with a cane and a knife stuck in his foot. There is physical evidence that he’s in pain.